John Denies Being The Christ

^"19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders   in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing." John 1:19-28

To really understand the gravity of what is going on here, there is one thing you must understand.  When the priests and the Levites came to question him, it wasn't like your pastor coming to have a chat with you after church.  It was more like the police stopping by to ask you a few questions.  John knew he was in serious trouble.  If he had told them what they wanted to hear they would have had him thrown in prison or worse.  Notice they asked, "Are you THE Prophet?" not, "Are you A prophet?"  What they are asking about is the prophet referred to in Deuteronomy 18:18

 "¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him."

  The Jews were looking for three people foretold in the Old Testament: The Messiah, the return on Elijah, and The Prophet.  John the Baptist was a prophet, but not The Prophet.  John said that he was not any of these.  So they wanted to know who he was if he was not any of these.  I love his answer to that one.  He told them who he was, worked in his message, and showed them that he knew the scriptures too, all at the same time.
 
Then they asked him about his baptisms.  He basically said, "Look, I only use water, but the Christ has come and you, the people who have spent your whole lives looking for him, the people who should know, have no clue about who He is.  I know who He is and I am not worthy to even untie His shoes."  Wow!  Bet that really made them mad.  John the Baptist was really putting his life in danger for Christ.  What are willing to do for Him?

Do you know Christ? Do you know who you are in Christ?  If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me and I will be more than happy to pray with you.  You can email me at jeremylail@gmail.com.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe the Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.